2018 ballot questions take first step

Will Massachusetts slash its sales tax? Should employers offer paid family leave? What about a $15 minimum wage?

Those are among the 21 potential ballot questions Massachusetts voters could decide next year. Attorney General Maura Healey certified 21 initiative petitions on Sept. 6, one of the first steps toward securing a spot on the ballot. Some petitioners filed multiple versions of proposals on the same topic.

Petitioners now must gather the signatures of at least 64,750 registered voters to clear the next hurdle. In 2016, just four petitions out of nearly three-dozen met all the requirements and deadlines to make it onto the ballot.

Here’s a closer look at the potential ballot questions the AG’s office certified for 2018.

Political disclosures and spending

· Presidential tax returns: Candidates running for president and vice president of the United States would be barred from appearing on the Massachusetts ballot without disclosing federal income tax returns from the previous six years under a proposal filed by Boston-based attorney Thomas Kiley. Last year, President Donald Trump became the first presidential nominee from a major party to fail to publicly release his tax returns.

· Corporate spending: A proposal from American Promise, a national non-profit organization devoted to reducing the influence of money in politics, would establish a Massachusetts commission to examine the impact of political spending and recommend potential amendments to the U.S. Constitution to limit corporate spending on political campaigns.

· Out-of-state funds: A proposal from Nahant resident Nicholas Bokron would set limits on the amount of money Massachusetts political candidates and ballot question committees could accept from out-of-state donors or political action committees.

Workers’ rights

· $15 minimum wage: A proposal from Raise Up Massachusetts would increase the state’s $11-per-hour minimum wage to $15 by 2022.

· Paid family leave: Raise Up Massachusetts also filed a proposal that would require employers to provide up to 16 weeks of paid family leave and 26 weeks of paid medical leave for Massachusetts workers. Covered workers would receive 90 percent of their average weekly earnings, or up to $1,000 per week.

Taxes

· Lower sales tax: The Retailers Association of Massachusetts filed a proposal to reduce the state sales tax from the current 6.25 percent rate to 4.5 percent. The petition would also establish an annual tax-free weekend in August. Several versions of the proposal were filed.

· Millionaire’s tax: After it was certified in 2015, and lawmakers advanced it through a constitutional convention last year, a 4 percent surtax on incomes exceeding $1 million remains eligible for the 2018 ballot. The proposed constitutional amendment was filed by Raise Up Massachusetts.

Medical matters

· Nurse workloads: A proposal backed by the Massachusetts Nurses Association would create limits on the number of patients that could be assigned to a nurse in a hospital. Hospitals would be required to post the limits and post notices explaining how to report violations. An alternate version, which was not certified by the AG’s office, contained a section requiring that health care facilities receiving any state funds be required to report assets held or invested overseas.

· Shock therapy: A proposal filed by Hyde Park resident Daniel Farnkoff would prohibit the use of electro-shock therapy or any procedure that causes physical pain to a person with an intellectual disability for the purpose of changing the person’s behavior.

· Abortion funding: The Alliance to stop Taxpayer Funded Abortion is proposing a constitutional amendment for the 2020 ballot that would definitively declare that the state constitution does not require public funds to be used on abortions, allowing lawmakers to exclude abortion services from state-funded health care coverage. Attorney Thomas M. Harvey of Belmont is the group’s chairman.

· Imaging fees: An initiative filed by Dr. Knute Alfredson of Lunenberg would establish a new law requiring medical providers to proactively inform patients of all costs and ancillary fees of radiology and imaging procedures, which can vary drastically among providers. Alfredson filed two slightly different versions of the petition.

Animal welfare

· Reducing euthanasia: Under a proposal from animal rights advocate Pearl Cohen of Bridgewater, animal shelters would be required to hold lost, abandoned, stray or surrendered animals for at least seven days before euthanizing them, unless the animal is terminally ill. The initiative would also allow for shelters to trap, neuter and release stray cats.

· Whale-safe fishing: Boston resident Richard Max Strahan filed a petition that would prohibit the commercial use of fishing gear known to entangle whales and sea turtles.

Renewable energy

· Increasing solar: The “Equitable Increase in Renewable Energy” petition would set minimum requirements for increasing the use of solar and other renewable energy over the next decade. It would also create state grants and financial incentives for expanding the use of renewable energy in low-income communities. Multiple versions of the proposal were filed.

2018 ballot questions take first step

Gerry Tuoti

Wicked Local Newsbank Editor

Will Massachusetts slash its sales tax? Should employers offer paid family leave? What about a $15 minimum wage?

Those are among the 21 potential ballot questions Massachusetts voters could decide next year. Attorney General Maura Healey certified 21 initiative petitions on Sept. 6, one of the first steps toward securing a spot on the ballot. Some petitioners filed multiple versions of proposals on the same topic.

Petitioners now must gather the signatures of at least 64,750 registered voters to clear the next hurdle. In 2016, just four petitions out of nearly three-dozen met all the requirements and deadlines to make it onto the ballot.

Here’s a closer look at the potential ballot questions the AG’s office certified for 2018.

Political disclosures and spending

· Presidential tax returns: Candidates running for president and vice president of the United States would be barred from appearing on the Massachusetts ballot without disclosing federal income tax returns from the previous six years under a proposal filed by Boston-based attorney Thomas Kiley. Last year, President Donald Trump became the first presidential nominee from a major party to fail to publicly release his tax returns.

· Corporate spending: A proposal from American Promise, a national non-profit organization devoted to reducing the influence of money in politics, would establish a Massachusetts commission to examine the impact of political spending and recommend potential amendments to the U.S. Constitution to limit corporate spending on political campaigns.

· Out-of-state funds: A proposal from Nahant resident Nicholas Bokron would set limits on the amount of money Massachusetts political candidates and ballot question committees could accept from out-of-state donors or political action committees.

Workers’ rights

· $15 minimum wage: A proposal from Raise Up Massachusetts would increase the state’s $11-per-hour minimum wage to $15 by 2022.

· Paid family leave: Raise Up Massachusetts also filed a proposal that would require employers to provide up to 16 weeks of paid family leave and 26 weeks of paid medical leave for Massachusetts workers. Covered workers would receive 90 percent of their average weekly earnings, or up to $1,000 per week.

Taxes

· Lower sales tax: The Retailers Association of Massachusetts filed a proposal to reduce the state sales tax from the current 6.25 percent rate to 4.5 percent. The petition would also establish an annual tax-free weekend in August. Several versions of the proposal were filed.

· Millionaire’s tax: After it was certified in 2015, and lawmakers advanced it through a constitutional convention last year, a 4 percent surtax on incomes exceeding $1 million remains eligible for the 2018 ballot. The proposed constitutional amendment was filed by Raise Up Massachusetts.

Medical matters

· Nurse workloads: A proposal backed by the Massachusetts Nurses Association would create limits on the number of patients that could be assigned to a nurse in a hospital. Hospitals would be required to post the limits and post notices explaining how to report violations. An alternate version, which was not certified by the AG’s office, contained a section requiring that health care facilities receiving any state funds be required to report assets held or invested overseas.

· Shock therapy: A proposal filed by Hyde Park resident Daniel Farnkoff would prohibit the use of electro-shock therapy or any procedure that causes physical pain to a person with an intellectual disability for the purpose of changing the person’s behavior.

· Abortion funding: The Alliance to stop Taxpayer Funded Abortion is proposing a constitutional amendment for the 2020 ballot that would definitively declare that the state constitution does not require public funds to be used on abortions, allowing lawmakers to exclude abortion services from state-funded health care coverage. Attorney Thomas M. Harvey of Belmont is the group’s chairman.

· Imaging fees: An initiative filed by Dr. Knute Alfredson of Lunenberg would establish a new law requiring medical providers to proactively inform patients of all costs and ancillary fees of radiology and imaging procedures, which can vary drastically among providers. Alfredson filed two slightly different versions of the petition.

Animal welfare

· Reducing euthanasia: Under a proposal from animal rights advocate Pearl Cohen of Bridgewater, animal shelters would be required to hold lost, abandoned, stray or surrendered animals for at least seven days before euthanizing them, unless the animal is terminally ill. The initiative would also allow for shelters to trap, neuter and release stray cats.

· Whale-safe fishing: Boston resident Richard Max Strahan filed a petition that would prohibit the commercial use of fishing gear known to entangle whales and sea turtles.

Renewable energy

· Increasing solar: The “Equitable Increase in Renewable Energy” petition would set minimum requirements for increasing the use of solar and other renewable energy over the next decade. It would also create state grants and financial incentives for expanding the use of renewable energy in low-income communities. Multiple versions of the proposal were filed.